5 Comments:

I came across your blog through a technorati search and I was wondering if you'd be interested in a link exchange with Immigration Orange. I'm always looking for different perspectives to interact with and value all viewpoints. Email me at kyledeb at gmail dot com if you're interested.

YES! if you're an actual, college-educated software developer in the United States looking for a job, you can apply to companies like Microsoft, and... wait... and... wait... and... wait. Whether you'll get hired is another story.

Tech companies don't appear to want Americans. The job outlook for software developers is abysmal, and people are being warned to stay away from that field. Why software companies can simultaneously tell Congress that they can't find qualified workers is anybody's guess. (Poor American work ethic? That's what one person told me. Poor American educational system? What, with college graduates? Have these companies never heard of on-the-job training? On the other hand, I've also been told by a former manager at one world-famous company that she didn't like to hire people with advanced degrees when she was there.)

...or so I'm told by software developers & computer science professors. It mirrors my experience applying to corporations that advertise for mathematicians: none replied to my inquiries. That was before I told them what field I had specialized in; all they had was a name and a request for instructions on how to apply. I can name these companies, if you like; at least one of them is world-famous. :-)

Of course, this is all anecdotal experience. If anyone has advice on how a mathematician with a doctoral degree from a respectable university and substantial experience in software development can get instructions on how to apply a job, let me know. I'm not looking now, but if I don't make tenure, I will be looking :-) And I'll be barely under 40, which might help me...

I had heard it said that the American companies were simply gaming the system to get cheap, but highly trained, computer folks. Of course, as soon as Microsoft and its ilk denied this I realized that it was simply anti-business left wing talk.

And now you go and give me actual eyewitness facts to shatter my illusions about Microsoft. What is the world coming to?

Microsoft, btw, is responsible for VISTA, the worst piece of software I have ever had the misfortune to use (sorry for the personal rant).On the bright side, though, once they start manufacturing in Canada, we can all BLAME CANADA!